The now defunct Shotgun Messiah was a band originally from Skovde Sweden. It was a Swedish glam metal band that was popular during the early 1990s. It was formerly called Kingpin while the band was still in Sweden. The band changed their name and then relocated to Hollywood California.
The band’s original line-up was made up of Zinny J. Zan ( vocals), Harry K. Cody (guitar, backing vocals), Tim Skold (bass, backing vocals) and Stixx Galore (drums, percussion, backing vocals). The band’s frontman was Zinny J. Zan but he eventually left the band in 1990 leaving Tim Skold to take over his duties including vocal duties. Zinny relocated to Stockholm to get over the death of his father, his divorce, and his stomach disease but he eventually formed his own band.
Here Are 10 Facts You Need To Know About Shotgun Messiah
1. The band’s songs and genres:
The band released five singles in total. Their genres were: hard rock, glam metal, industrial rock, industrial metal, and punk rock.
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2. The rock magazine ratings:
Shotgun Messiah was named No. 38 by Sweden rock magazine on their ‘Best Rock Bands of Sweden ever’ list.
3. The band’s first album:
They released their first album which was self-titled just after the band changed their name, they even went further to record the album they released under the name kingpin. Even the style of the album changed, it was glam metal which was typical of the early 1980s and other popular bands like Motley Crue and Ratt were into it.
4. Shotgun messiah’s hit in 1991:
The band had their famous hit, Heartbreak Blvd released in 1991 in the album, second coming, it was after Zinny J Zan left the band and the line-up was changed with Bobby Lycon, an American bassist, who took over Skold’s former position.
5. Change of leadership:
Under Skold’s leadership, the band style became a sleaze glam-styled hard rock. This was due to the leader’s less conventional singing style and this was unlike their previous works which even degraded it.
6. The debated album was released:
In 1993, only Harry K Cody and Tim Skold were left as the only remaining members of Shotgun Messiah. They released the band’s last album which was titled, ‘Violet New Breed.’ The album is said to be the most hotly debated album in the shotgun messiah history. While some fans believed it was the band’s best work ever others said it should have been released under the name of the band as it was not up to their standard. The album was different from the other ones because their style drifted and became more like an industrial rock which involved live players for the Violet New Breed tour. Sadly, the band split permanently and they cited artistic differences as the reason.
7. They were called names:
Even though the band had talent and potential, the members were often referred to as shameless opportunists and they were mockingly called ‘Bandwagon Messiah’ because of the way the kept changing their musical direction despite the way the struggled and worked to reach the limelight. It seemed the band was not quite lucky after all.
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8. The year it was founded:
The band was formed in 1985 in Sweden with the debut album, Welcome to Bop City, released on a Swedish label in 1988. After the band moved to Los Angeles, they signed a deal with relativity records, a record label that was more interested in underground metal bands.
9. Life after being on the band:
After they disbanded, Tim Skold has been the most visible and prolific member of the band. He had his solo album ‘Skold’ in 1996 and has been involved in many projects as a performer as well as producer. He was Marilyn Manson’s bass player for seven years afterward.
10. The anniversary reunion:
Zinny Zan later released a solo album and two other albums with his new band, Zan Clan. He even reunited with Stixx in 2012, calling themselves ‘Shotgun’ in other to mark the band’s 25thanniversary of Welcome to Bop City the defunct band’s first album under the name ‘Kingpin’. The line-up included Zinny J Zan (lead vocals), Rob Marcello ( guitar and backing vocals, Chris Laney ( bass and backing vocals) Stixx (drums and backing vocals) and lastly, Jonas Beijer (keyboards).
